Junior Lizzie Meschisen, Algonquin’s only competitive diver, jumps off a diving board five feet above the water’s surface and does somersaults in midair dozens of times a day which has led to breaking school records and placing third in the state.

Meschisen discovered her love for diving after competing in her first competition in 2016 and breaking Alexis Morin’s 2008 school record.

“Diving is easily the thing I most look forward to in my day,” Meschisen said. “My favorite dive to do is definitely a inward half somersault pike, because it has a very high degree of difficulty, but it’s an easy dive for me in general, so I don’t have to worry as much about messing up.”

She has continued to work on her diving and keeps getting better and better. She finished eleventh at the Division 1 State Meet her freshman year, and won the league meet and finished sixth in the state her sophomore year.

“Before a meet, I always listen to music that pumps me up, and before each dive I go through the motions that warm my muscles and then close my eyes and imagine myself doing the dive perfectly,” Meschisen said.

Meschisen said that having more confidence has helped her be more successful this year. In past seasons she would always get unreasonably nervous about the smallest things, and once she learned to take one dive at a time, she found that helped her get better in the long run.

Meschisen was a competitive gymnast for eight years before she began diving, which she believes helped her master diving so quickly, as well as becoming more comfortable with it.

“Lizzie is so humble about all her accomplishments,” swim and dive coach Jean Fedak said. “She is just so determined to reach all her goals as well as team goals.”

Meschisen practices diving 10 hours a week in Wellesley, separate from the rest of the swim team, and has worked hard to continue to make and break her own records, as well as being named a Mid-Wach All Star.

“I absolutely love diving and I definitely want to continue it through college,” Meschisen said.

Although Meschisen does not practice with the swim team, according to Fedak, she is still a “major contributor” and still comes to support her team at meets and fundraisers.

“Watching Lizzie dive is inspirational,” Fedak said.